After an excellent season in which the Whitehorse Bantam Mustangs turned plenty of heads, captain Joe Stokes has received an invitation to the U16 BC Cup.

The 15-year-old forward is one of 120 players invited to take part in the event in Salmon Arm, B.C., April 22 to 26.

Each of the players was invited to the BC Hockey camp based on their individual performance last season.

Of the 120 players, the top 40 will move onto a provincial camp in Nanaimo, B.C., in July.

The selection shows Yukon hockey players are being recognized for their talents, said Derek Klassen, coach of the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Association.

“We pushed him pretty hard. We let the guys at BC Hockey know that he had to be there – he’s good enough,” Klassen said. “It is hard for our guys to be seen.”

Brent Stokes said his son Joe made a good impression on scouts when the Tier 3 Bantam Mustangs held their own at a Tier 1 tournament in Abbotsford, B.C. in February.

The team went on to win the provincial Tier 3 title last month. The bantam squad went 6-0 in Port Hardy, B.C., and Stokes led the way with nine goals and five assists.

While Stokes earned a camp invite, four other players from the title-winning team battled their way onto the U15 radar in Vanderhoof, B.C., last weekend.

Forwards Bryce Anderson, Oscar Burgess, Dylan Cozens and defenceman Brett Walchuk each graduated from the camp and will represent Whitehorse at a follow-up event in Richmond, B.C., next month.

The four were the only Yukoners who attended the camp, which featured 120 players from the North. Only 20 were selected to move on.

“It’s good. It gives Whitehorse exposure,” said Klassen. “I think sometimes we’re viewed in the hockey world as an outsider.

“To see how that group has trained over the last few years, to see the success they’re having as a team and individually – it really shows me that we are doing the right things.”

Two female hockey players are also working hard to be recognized by BC Hockey, said Female Mustangs coach Louis Bouchard.

Forward Maddie Nicholson and blue-liner Cayman Oestriech – who recently moved to town from Dease Lake – attended an open camp in Williams Lake, B.C., in January.

The two qualified for a second camp in Salmon Arm held last weekend and are still waiting on results, said Bouchard.